Shattered Skies
by Alfa290
Summary: There never were Prothean ruins on Mars. Humanity never had its technology handed to it on a silver platter. For the past four centuries humans have expanded, fractured, and advanced without knowledge of the wider galaxy. Until a routine mineral scouting mission goes very, very wrong.
1. The Deep Breath

The Deep Breath

Vortarus Eastern Defense Perimeter, Khar'shan

Karhaf looked up from his foxhole. The invaders would be here soon. They had smashed through the pathetic remains of the navy at the Mass Relay. The moons of Verush and their defensive emplacements had been reduced to space dust. He didn't delude himself with the thought the token planetary defense fleet would hold more than an hour.

As if on cue, the ancient dreadnought _GHV_ _Hammer of Justice _broke through the cloud cover over the city. The rear half of the vessel was nothing but a trail of burning metal streaking through the sky. The forward half was in marginally better shape as it still vaguely resembled the once glorious ship, that is, until a pillar of blue light descended from the heavens obliterating the remains of the _Hammer _and most of the Northern Defense Perimeter.

Immediately after, he heard it, the _sound_, the final sign of impending doom. It started as a low, throbbing rumble giving way to a high pitched screaming sound. He double checked that he had disruptor rounds activated. He settled into a stable firing position and began to wait for the inevitable. The screams of his comrades could be heard among the deep bass of the machine's steps and staccato noise of weapon fire.

In his position Karhaf waited to die.

* * *

21 years prior

_UNV E-551 "Werewolf"_

Location: 40,000km over R12-S4-T4 "Styx"

"Sir, something just came up on long range scanners. I think you need to see this."

* * *

**A/N: **

This is going to be a Mass Effect first contact story and, hopefully, I'll eventually finish it with the Reaper War. Also, this is the first time I've ever really done anything like this so please R&amp;R. That being said please be gentle. Who am I kidding? This is the internet.


	2. Another Day at the Office

Another Day at the Office

January 23, 2448

_UNV E-551 "Werewolf"_

Location: 40,000km over R12-S4-T4*

Gauntt groaned as he slowly rolled off of his bunk. He was somewhat older than the rest of his crew at a little over 50 years. His hair was a light brown streaked with steel grey and his face had ever deepening lines created by the stress of near constant frontline combat for 20 years. The only thing that stopped his small crew of young bucks from calling him "Old Man" were his eyes. They were well worn around the edges and were a rather flat brown but they still had the fire and quickness of a much younger man in them.

As his feet touched the floor he was ever so grateful that Waltman had managed to fix the grav-gen systems in crew quarters. Oh sure, zero-g was always good for a lark but when you wanted to get things done on a ship it quickly turned into a pain in the ass. Not only did it generally cause mild to severe disorientation, nausea, and a little vomiting if you _really_ couldn't handle it, but it also made all your tools float away when you turned your back. Either way, Waltman had worked his magic and the grav-plates for the whole ship were working again.

He did some short stretches in the crew quarters to wake his uncooperative limbs up then opened his personal locker. Inside was a picture of his family, a photo of his old unit, and above all else, exactly what he needed _right now._ He pulled the packet of instant coffee from his locker and added it to his canteen. Taking a luxurious gulp he quietly thought, _maybe today won't be so bad after all._

Deciding to see if they were ready to begin ground surveying Gauntt began walking toward the cockpit. The hallway to said cockpit was cramped, but then again _everything_ was cramped and a little claustrophobic on the _Werewolf_. It's not like there was much space to begin with on a ship that was 50 meters long. But when your ship was pushing a century old you really couldn't complain too much about the lack of amenities. Not in the least because it came dirt cheap with all of the equipment included in the purchase.

Walking into the cockpit of the small prospecting ship he stopped to listen to the pilot, a somewhat hot tempered Terran, and the Shipboard Intelligence argue.

"…the weight?" asked the pilot gesticulating wildly towards thin air.

"Negative, orbiter 8 is the last probe onboard. All others have been launched," was the electronic sounding reply.

"Sarah, why didn't you tell me about this earlier? Then we wouldn't need to do a last minute course correction to compensate for the higher than expected mass." The exasperated sigh that followed the statement almost made Gauntt burst out laughing.

"Built-in-Test functions for orbiter 8 and its holding clamp reported the system was fully operational Pilot Salle."

"So now you're telling me BiT isn't working right?" the pilot threw his hands up as he continued, "Great, just fantastic, what if one of the other orbiters has the same problem but this time not with its launch systems but a different one?"

"Orbiters 1 thru 7 have all reported correct deployment and optimal function," was the monotone answer.

"And this makes me feel better, why?"

"Built-in-Test and Operation Monitoring software and hardware are separate."

Tilting his head from side to side and working his jaw slowly, Salle conceded "I guess you have a point."

Grinning ever so slightly, Gauntt tapped Salle's shoulder.

"Morning Chief, how's the coffee?" Salle asked without bothering to look up from his console.

"Same as always, cold and a bit bitter," He replied with a small grin, "What were you and Sarah talking about?"

Salle scowled before saying, "Oh, well orbiter 8 had a launch software error that BiT didn't detect. So now we need to do a course correction to compensate for the extra mass. Two hundredish extra kilograms of mass can play Hell with orbits and maneuvers in space, especially when you're trying to save your fuel."

"Point taken. Are Waltman and Hyben working on the probe?"

"Yeah, I already let them know. By the way, tell Grim thanks for fixing the grav-plates. Now I don't have to worry about a sharp turn at Mach 25 turning us all into paste," He said with an impish grin on his face.

Gauntt winced at the thought of grav-plate accidents, they were never pretty. "Thank you for _that_ pleasant image," He said in the most even voice he could manage, "Anyway, I'll let him know. Also, when will we be in position to launch the lander?"

"Two, maybe three hours depending on how the extra weight affects our orbit and when the orbiters start transmitting us data." responded the pilot after glancing at a nearby monitor.

"Okay, you and Sarah play nice and have some fun."

Salle snorted derisively at the parting shot before getting back to work on the course correction.

* * *

Waltman was on his back looking at the source of his current headache. Underneath orbiter 8's holding clamp he could easily see the three dime sized holes in the electronics board's shielding. They were small, almost perfectly round and had undoubtedly destroyed the delicate equipment inside.

"Boxer, could you pass me the 8mm wrench, please?" asked Waltman from under the malfunctioning probe.

"Sure, here you go." A small hex wrench suddenly appeared near his hand. He gratefully accepted it and got to work taking off the electronics board shielding. After less than a minute of unscrewing, the cover came off and Waltman got a good look at the remains of the control circuit board. _Just another day on this second-hand bucket of bolts_, he thought, _Oh well, at least this one is easier than the grav-plates_. With a sigh he systematically began removing and cataloguing the damaged parts that needed to be replaced.

* * *

"Okay, you strapped in?"

"Yes, Ford I'm all good. Now can we get this show on the road?" asked Hyben sounding mildly annoyed.

"Sure thing princess. Salle, how're we looking?"

"Everything is go on my end Ford. I've got solid feed from all orbiters including 8 so we won't lose contact. We should have a full radar map of the surface in 8 hours, so I'll let you know if we see anything interesting up here," stated Salle in a rather clinical tone.

"Alrighty then, ready when you are."

"Launching in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Detach. I'm reading clean separation."

"Copy and confirm separation is clean. Moving to descent trajectory to begin ground survey of this miserable looking red ball of dirt."

"Cheer up Kyle, you've got Boxer to keep you company, and hey, you know that red means that there's iron here," came the ever so cheerful response.

"'And where there's iron there are other metals' sure I remember that lecture too. That doesn't mean that I enjoy having to clean my gear and the lander every time we hit a planet like this." grumbled Ford.

"Believe me, I agree, I hate it when you come in trailing red dust, but we all got bills to pay so let's get it done." To Ford's surprise the Chief had spoken up with that little tidbit, usually he stayed out of the verbal sparring matches.

Quickly recovering Ford said, "Roger that, sir. We are dirt side in 10 mikes. We'll reestablish link once we break through atmo."

"Understood," that was Salle again, "try not to die in the mean time, _Werewolf _out."

"Do you ever think happy thoughts?" Ford mumbled to himself.

"What was that?" asked Hyben in the seat next to him.

"Nothing, just..."

"No, not what you said. What was that thing that just popped up out of nowhere then disappeared?"

* * *

**A/N: **Okay maybe not the most exciting chapter but I need to introduce you to these guys, gal, and robot as well as the ship. Also, Salle is _not _pronounced the same as Sally. The very real person whose name I used for that character tends to get pissy when you call him that. From the way I understand it, you say it like **AL** from **Alan **but with a '**S**' in front. Moving on, the _Werewolf_ and its crew are going to be the focus of the first few chapters, mostly to help just set up how humans operate in this version of Mass Effect. Hopefully I can figure out how to either compress these chapters without throwing a wall of text at you or just make it more interesting because right now it needs so serious TLC. As always, please R&amp;R, I'd like to hear what you have to say and until next time, peace out.

**-Edited 3/29/2014 **Thank you for pointing out the errors hornet07, and OMAC001 I am really torn over what I should do with a Codex. And to everybody that has favorited, followed, and above all else _reviewed _this story, thank you. The comments have been constructive and I love reading them. By the way, yes, France is a thing in space. Not a major thing but still a thing.

*** **It means Relay 12- System 4- Terrestrial Planet 4. Relay by order of discovery, System by order of distance from Relay (System 1 has the Relay in it), and Planets ordered by distance from their home stars.


	3. Codex: Expansion

**Codex: Human Expansion in ****Space**

_Slow Boat to the Stars_

The first one and a half centuries of human space exploration and expansion were dominated by massive STL ships that could be up to 15 kilometers long and house up to 30,000 cryogenically frozen people as well as any supplies they would need for their voyage. These vessels would later be dubbed "slow boats" after the advent of effective, large scale FTL warp drives. At top speed, some of these vessels could reach 15% the speed of light and reach Alpha Centauri in 50 years. All colonies in Sol, Alpha Centauri, and Bernard systems were founded in this way. The practice of slow boat transit persisted until safer, more efficient warp drives were developed. Even after, there was a small market that existed until the discovery of Mass Effect technology and the creation of the slip-drive in 2395AD.

_(-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-)_

_The Light Speed Problem_

Without the knowledge provided by the Prothean Archives to help break the light speed barrier humanity did not develop effective FTL systems until 2203 AD. Multiple proof-of-concept and test flights had been performed before that time, with fragments of declassified information suggesting attempts by a recently rebuilt NASA as early as 2140 AD to test FTL warp technology. However, there were two massive obstacles to the use of FTL warp technology: the extreme fuel consumption and the massive gravitational waves generated by the warp field. The first problem was eventually solved by the use of fusion generators and reconfiguring the warp "bubble." It was not until 2239 AD the second problem was solved by a German science team that had been studying aquatic life and its possible application in founding colonies. Even though the math had been solved, the first safe "in-system" warp drive did not become available until almost twenty years later and ran smack dab back into the first problem. This back and forth between long-range and short-range warp technology would continue until 2395AD.

Also of note about FTL warp technology is that the intense heat generated by creating the "bubble" forced advancement of human vessel plating. As well, the precursors to modern Shipboard Intelligences were created to help safely calculate and complete jumps that would avoid objects large enough to destabilize the warp field and destroy anything unlucky enough to be inside on a subatomic level. Weaponization of warp technology is strictly banned under the New Geneva Conventions.

__(-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-)__

_One Small Step_

By the year 2197AD humanity could build large scale graviton generators that worked consistently but were as inefficient as they were physically imposing and scientifically impressive. They were primarily used on large space stations such as the International Space Station, Jump Zero, and Bespin Station to provide anywhere from .5 to .9 Earth gravities for its users. However, after over a hundred years of patient researching, miniaturization, and a massive breakthrough in energy generation and storage, the fourth generation of graviton generators that came out in 2267AD could not only be powered by a ship board power plant but were powerful enough to provide up to 20 Earths of gravity allowing a massive increase in speed for real space transit.

Previously, the speed for "live" transit had to be kept below the "Blackout Line" where passengers and crew would blackout due to blood pooling or lack of blood circulation. The reason was the g-force generated by the speed they were travelling at caused the blood to pool in certain parts of the body and the human heart simply was not designed to handle the stress. The 4th generation grav-gens and revolutionary grav-plates eliminated the problem over night by nullifying the feeling of acceleration.

However, it is important to note that grav-plates _do not _cancel out the effects of gravitons from another location, only cancel acceleration imparted by ships onto their passengers. Nor do graviton fields affect the _mass _of an object only the _weight_. Only one record exists of an experiment to weaponize grav-gen technology, it was salvaged from an asteroid field that was once a small mining world. They are banned under the New Geneva Conventions for use as weapons and the practice of "planet cracking" using grav-gen technology is strictly regulated throughout human space.

__(-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-)__

_Poor Communication Kills_

For the first several generations of space flight communications were limited to standard electromagnetic transmissions, i.e. microwave, radio, and laser communication. This posed a massive problem because even though light was the fastest human communications could go, it was woefully inadequate even within single systems. For instance, the time it takes for a transmission from a lunar settlement to Earth is about 2 seconds. Not so bad right? But the problem became more and more pronounced as settlements were established further and further with the communications delay being _five years _for a one way transmission_,_ and a _decade _if you wanted an answer. Naturally, this lack of coordination led to rather serious disagreements.

While the earliest non-laboratory FTL communications systems were unveiled to the public in the late 2190's it proved too little, too late. Humanity's far-flung colonies would not be able to get this technology for several decades and the companies that created these Quantum Entanglement Communicators, or QECs for short, refused point blank to allow the designs to be transmitted to the colonies. They would only permit the physical apparatus being moved to the colonies in their attempts to guard the secret to entangling particles. This unwillingness to cooperate and paranoia that the Colonials would attempt to reverse engineer anything they could get their hands on would play a major role in The Long War.

By 2359, all factions had at least one real-time communication to all the others leading to improved relations. However, there would always be the occasional flare up in hostilities when a combat ship without a QEC arrived at its destination.

__(-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-)__

_Escalation_

Many of the causes of The Long War can be traced to colonial governments. Instructions sent by Earth would be, at a minimum, five years out of date, with forces to back up any words the better part of a century away. Because of this, several governors began passing laws to enrich only themselves and a select few, others cut horrific deals with corporations only looking to make a quick buck, and worst of all one governor even went so far as to legalize slavery. Needless to say, perpetually rising taxes, destruction of their homes, and increasing brutality of local governments began to stir civil unrest.

After a peaceful protest of working conditions in the mines was dispersed by use of lethal force on unarmed and largely cooperative civilians on Centauri II, many could see the writing on the wall. Less than a month later the planets of Centauri II, Centauri IV, and Landings (Centauri III) were in open revolt. Such were the opening shots of several colonial liberation movements with the opening event being known as the imaginatively named Centauri Revolts.

By the time word reached Earth that the revolt had begun the colonial governments of the Centarui system were on the verge of collapse. Shortly after reports began flooding in that colonial forces were losing badly against the assorted rebel factions. Conflicting reports on the nature of these faction stalled motions to send the various Terran fleets to handle the revolts long enough that it became irrelevant.

In the year 2198, the colonial government of Landings collapses as rebel forces seizes control the military vessels in orbit and use the ultimate high ground to decimate any remaining holdouts. After a one year clean up, the Centauri system geared up for war and independently developed their own first generation warp drive only a year after it was invented in the Sol system. Centauri forces prioritized taking and holding orbits over planets to permit strategic bombing via Rods From God. They pioneered early human space combat doctrine and most early generation space vessel improvements originated in the self-proclaimed Centauri Union. The Union would be in a near constant state of war with the newly minted Terran Confederacy for the better part of the next two centuries.

__(-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-)__

_Land Grab_

With several wars of independence raging throughout human space all sides raced to grab any resources they could. A common choice was to mine asteroids, comets, and planetoids for anything from iron and iridium to oxygen and water. Over time these hollowed out husks would become home to trading posts, way stations, military bases, and pirate groups. The original wartime headquarters of the Systems Alliance and its predecessor, the Coalition of Systems, was inside the asteroid Eros.

Bolstered with resourced acquired, rebel forces began racing to cobble together a competent military force to face any retaliatory strikes from the Confederacy. To that effective most of these resources were used to build vast armies or armadas of computer intelligence controlled drones. This was necessary if the colonies hoped, in their minds at least, to reach numerical parity with the Confederacy which had a population of 17 billion people with 3% in various armed forces.

Despite the colonies having technical expertise in almost every field, they had a distinct lack of population. The Centauri Union was the most populous with only about 500 million residents total in the system at the beginning of the Revolts. The Sirius colonies were the worst off as far as population went with only 2 million residents. After three years of break neck mining, constructing, testing, and experimentation the colonies, with Centauri in the lead, had each amassed over a million ground and air combat drones. As well, the Independent League, a coalition of colonies in the Sirius system, had made major breakthroughs in the fields of artificial intelligence and space borne small attack craft or fighters.

However, even without knowledge of the build up in the colonies the Confederacy knew it wouldn't be able to reclaim its colonies. While the Confederate military was a sizable force at 3% of the human population of the Sol System it was mostly in ground forces. The high upkeep on a large standing space fleet meant that most of the individual nations that became the Confederacy simply could not afford to build large space fleets and concentrated more on lower upkeep ground surface forces. A simultaneous assault or mass mobilization on the colonies would have left the meager Terran space force spread too thin to even take on a mediocre fleet, and colonial forces were far from mediocre.

__(-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-)__

_The Big Leap_

After a ten year lull between the official declarations of independence by all but one colony not in the Sol System, the war kicked into high gear when a Centauri scout fleet attacked and destroyed a research station and military shipyard on Charon and in Pluto's orbit respectively. However, this would prove to be a major boon the Confederacy as it revealed that Charon was an artificial construct that became buried by debris from the Kuiper Belt.

Research into this mysterious machine was slow going. However, engineers and scientists managed to recreate small quantities of its plating and the unknown, highly radioactive component. For the next hundred years scientists from all corners of human space would quietly wrestle with the secrets of these engineering marvels until there was finally a solution to the problem. During an experiment to discover the nature of the highly radioactive low mass material in the Construct it was exposed to an electrical current. Later reports would confirm that even though it felt as if some form of "anti-graviton" field was created gravimetrics showed that no such field was generated. In subsequent testing it was found that the electrified substance interacted with the Higgs Field and had little relation to gravitons.

More to the point, the scientist found that it appeared to alter the mass of objects in the immediate area. Forwarding their findings to several engineers a quiet race began to build a mechanism to capitalize on this discovery. In 2395 the first generation of slip-drives hit the market.

The earliest slip-drives built in laboratories were little more than Gerry-rigged short-range warp drives. Initially, slip drives functioned by lowering the mass of the ship inside the bubble to allow the velocity of the object in the bubble to approach light speed. As the ship approached light speed the warp bubble would keep pace as the compressed space it created was traversed. This was dangerous and the control programs had to be on the ball with collision detection, but it was, math and engineering wise, much easier to accomplish.

The production model slip-drives were far safer and came with in-built programs to manage the Mass Effect and warp field interactions. They were also not without their flaws. They were high energy consuming and generated large amounts of internal heat, but in exchange they made the trip from Earth to Landings go from being two years to just over 6 hours. This massive boost in translation time coupled with the creation of prototype full eezo cores ended The Long War almost overnight due to fears of mutually assured destruction. Some of those fears were assuaged by the New Geneva Conventions and the Sirius Ceasefire which were ratified almost unanimously by all of human space.

Ever since all sides have been quietly stockpiling equipment for the coming war that would decide who would rule the local cluster. This Cold War would continue for the next fifty years. The catalyst that broke the stalemate was one nobody saw coming.

__(-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-)__

_Contact_

On January 22, 2448 a small prospecting vessel _UNV E-551 _(Umoja Naval Vessel), nicknamed the "_Werewolf"_, activated a Construct to travel to a previously unknown system. After getting strange reading from their passive sensors for the past day they activated their active sensors. Upon activation an unknown signature on the far side of the system's sun was detected. Without hailing or otherwise declaring themselves, the unknown signature opened fire. Communications were lost with _E-551_ until it exited the Construct and made for the nearby neutral world of Mindoir exhibiting severe damage. Five unknown contacts exited the Construct and proceeded to obliterate the limping scout ship. Weapon systems on the nearby research station managed to deter further pursuit and cause the contacts to retreat to the far side of the Construct.

After the incident, a team was sent to recover any remains of the crew. The decision made and an assistance request was sent to League FleetCom on Canis. Frigates _LSV Fox, LSV Rift, _and _LSV Walker_ along with the light carrier _LSV Loyal_ were dispatched to Mindoir and ordered to defend the colony at any cost.

Approximately 48 Sol Standard hours later, a force composed of 50 vessels of varying weight classes translated through the Construct. The Mindoir Planetary Defense Forces, League reinforcements, two Confederate trading vessels, a Union ambassador's corvette, and the 2nd Umoja Security Force were engaged by hostile contacts. They were engaged in orbit of the system's capital world, Mindoir, for one hour before enemy forces broke contact and retreated beyond the Construct.

All human forces promptly requested substantial reinforcements in the Mindoir system. This was a legal grey area as Mindoir was a Neutral World and several of the greater powers of human space were pledged to protect its sovereignty. However, once it was received that Mindoir was being attacked and would welcome any force willing to render aid to its people the vast war machine of humanity roared to life.

* * *

**A/N:**

Ok, TL;DR version, GO! Human expansion outpaces our communications ability leading to Revolts in the colonies. Revolts turn into full scale interstellar war and bloody planet side warfare. New methods of transportation and communication are developed greatly easing the diplomatic process and helping to end a two hundred year long war. Fifty years after the war has officially ended but the cold war is still going a scout vessel gets its lunch stolen before getting KO'd when it was almost to the finish line, no survivors. The baddies that did it come back with friends and attack a decidedly non-military planet but retreat anyway because Gondor Calls For Aid and the League (good[-ish] guys), Confederacy (grey doesn't even cut it), Umoja (mega-corp to the rescue!), Centauri (war is a way of life to these people), and the Neutral Worlds (who aren't really that neutral) answer.

Bugs Bunny said it best,"Of course you realize, this means war."

As per usual, please tell me what I done goofed on so I can fix it. Just because this is for the funzies does not mean I can use poor grammar. Barring the A/N's of course. You don't have to read these.

Also, let me know if you want me to do more Codex stuff like this, shove off to its own little corner, or it shorter. Until next time, later!


	4. The Plunge

**The Plunge**

Bunker 12, Vortarus, Khar'shan

A baby was crying in the corner as its mother tried, fruitlessly, to calm it down. Two soldiers were guarding the door with their weapons raised, waiting for anything to dare to enter. Motes of dust floated through air clogged with the stench and heat of the people in the bunker, the ventilation system had failed a few hours ago and no one knew how to fix it. In the middle of the room the dying lay, quietly moaning as their lives slowly slipped away. And with all this, a soldier at the solitary table in the bunker dropped into a nearby chair.

Karhaf was taking inventory. The results were… less than stellar. There were fifty people in the bunker and only ten soldiers including him. One was unconscious, five were severely injured, and everyone had at least some kind of minor injury ranging from strained muscles to rolled ankles. They were down to a half a quart of water per soldier and would be throwing spit balls if they got into a fire fight. Karhaf's head thunked into the table as he let out an exasperated sigh.

After the first day of fighting they had lost over forty percent of the city. And not just from the regular assaults but also because the enemy had no qualms using the ultimate high ground to their advantage. Let's face it, it doesn't matter how good your position is when the enemy can drop a metal rod on you from orbit at Mach 15, and with pinpoint accuracy to boot. The one's that didn't get hit with orbital strikes were taken out by close air support or those damnable drones.

That was the worst of it he decided. That no matter where you were, a machine with no eyes and no soul could fall out of the sky and clear out your emplacement in under a minute. He shuddered thinking of his multiple close encounters with the machines of these apes. It was not their durability, though they were formidable. It was not their weapons, though they were clearly devastating. No, what made the machines terrifying to the warriors of Khar'shan was that even if you finally took one down two more would take its place. And they were just as emotionless and unstoppable as the last.

The light over the table flickered in time with the sound of bombs detonating on the surface. The roar of anti-aircraft fire answered back but was losing strength. Karhaf picked up his rifle and checked his heat sinks. Another air raid, they seemed partial to those, they did. They usually used them to drop off more drones and bomb anything they deemed 'hostile' into dust. He knew that more drones were landing by the second. His heat sinks only had twenty shots left. _Enough to take one with me_, he thought as he headed to the heavy steel door.

(-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-)

Khar'Shan Orbit, _SSV Bering Sea_

Staff Sergeant Salgado was itching to go. He and his Leopard tank had been sidelined to the transports since the landing had begun, but the higher ups had sent the word moments ago. The 3rd Armored Division was going to wreck some four eyed face. He grinned as the heavy drop ships began to spin up their engines, _Time for some payback_, _Death Before Dismount_.

(-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-)

50 km over Vortarus, Khar'Shan

The Star Ranger shook ever so slightly as it hit a density pocket. He looked up. Next to him, Cox finished sealing his suit for the high altitude jump.

_Somewhere there's a mother,_

_Who's cryin' for her son,_

He stared at the helmet in his hands.

"You know, they say that if you stare at it long enough the optics stare right back," joked Cox.

"Shut it Cox, we're almost to the LZ," snapped the lieutenant.

Everyone was on edge. This was it, time to prove it was all worth it.

_He's an Airborne Ranger,_

_And his work is never done,_

He glanced at the N7 crest on the side of the helmet before he put it on. It was a far cry from the Centauri Ranger gear he used to have. He wasn't complaining though. It had proven itself.

"Ten seconds to target! God be with you!" the pilot's voice announced over the speakers in the main compartment.

_So don't you cry him no tears,_

_He don't need your sympathy,_

"Get ready!"

"3…2…1…Go! Go! Go!"

With that the N7's jumped out.

_Here's hoping this works_, he thought as he plunged through an alien sky lit by artillery fire, glowing shrapnel, and burning aircraft.

_He's an Airborne Ranger,_

_Airborne Ranger Infantry,_

His HUD gave him the location of the rest of the team as they hit the cloud cover over the city. Enemy triple-A was lighting up as it attempted to shoot down the transports and their escorts. Several drop ships and escorts were now just so much fast moving shrapnel. However, the escorts were giving back as much as they received reducing several emplacements to ashes.

_Somewhere there's a father,_

_Fighting in a foreign land,_

He felt a lurch in his stomach as the micro-scale eezo core in his suit kicked in. It slowed his descent until he lightly touched down behind some cover. _Softer landing than a parachute_, he observed while pulling out his rifle. _Still feels weird_. A new weapon based off captured enemy equipment with _lots _of upgrades.

_He's an Airborne Ranger,_

_And his work is never done,_

The emplacement up the road was giving the drones from the League a hell of time. An orbital strike was out of the question with friendly assets overhead and those AA defenses were tearing the fly boys a new one. So that was out too.

_So don't you cry him no tears,_

_He don't need your sympathy,_

He flicked open the grenade sights. _They're what, 300-350 meters away? Yeah that sounds about right._ He steadied his breathing as he lined up the shot. The soft _whoosh_ made by the under slung grenade launcher gave way to a thunderous **BOOM** and blast of heat as the plasma grenade detonated. He was mildly impressed when one of the four-eyes managed to stumble away from the burning wreckage of his position.

_He's an Airborne Ranger,_

_Airborne Ranger Infantry,_

He assessed his next step towards the objectives as the drones took care of the few sorry bastards that survived the blast and heat wave. He had landed about 200 meter northeast of his target. Not bad, that put him about two klicks from Assembly Area Lima, the staging point for the mission.

_That's all he'll ever be…_

Engaging the cloak on his armor he calmly set off through the ruins of a once mighty city. He had appointment to keep. And a point to prove.

(-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-)

January 23, 2448

_UNV E-551 "Werewolf"_

Location: 40,000km over R12-S4-T4

He looked back at the information Sarah had put on his screen. _What the hell is going on? I must be losing it, there's no way. This place was deserted a week ago._ The thoughts were racing around his head in circles trying to find some sensible solution to the current problem. He was coming up empty handed.

"Sarah, can you double check this? This could just be some anomaly." The statement was hollow but what could he do? He might be willing to dive bomb an enemy position from orbit and go boldly where no man has gone before, but that doesn't mean he's keen on playing diplomat.

"Negative, the energy detected does not match any natural phenomena. Again, it is most similar to a ship venting excess heat from its systems," was the disappointing and monotonous answer.

_Well, time to face the music, _he grumbled to himself. A moment he turned to shout into the main area, "Sir, something just came up on long range scanners. I think you need to see this."

"What is it Salle?" asked the Chief as he re-entered the cockpit.

"Check this out, Sarah bring up the recording from thermal imager… that's the one thanks. Can you play it too? I need to do some quick maneuvering. Just watch the clip while I do this right quick," he said inclining his head toward the screen.

"What am I looking Salle? All I see is a bright red fuzzy dot near a planet."

Turn slightly to the left he said, "Sarah, could you give him the short version?"

"Most certainly," was the response he got.

"Then don't wait for me fill him in."

"Understood, what you a currently viewing is a side-by-side comparison of a thermal image and a standard optic shot. Thermal photography displays an image that would suggest there is a small star at the edge of the system. However, the optical scan easily refutes this, as well; the low variation in temperature and sudden appearance all imply that it is in fact a vessel of so kind."

"So someone else beat us here?"

"No sir, I had Sarah send a flash-comm* to the research station on the other side of the Construct. They said no one had gone through in the past month aside from us." The pilot quietly shook his head for a second and continued, "And if someone used a slip-drive to get here the ship would have to be bigger than that to just house the fuel. I mean, we are almost a _hundred light years _from the far end."

"So, first contact it is. But just to be sure, hit 'em with active sensors and send them an IFF ping. I don't feel like being laid low by a Confederate. Present company exempted of course." Gauntt smirked at the pilot.

"No worries just got to say that a stiff breeze could take you down right now though. So I won't even have to do it!" Touché Salle, touché.

(-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-*-_-)

**A/N: **

I see how it is formatting program. You don't like page breaks. Okay, I get it. Fine, be that way. I have ways of making things happen.

I kind of feel a little sorry about what's in store for poor Karhaf. He lives (at least that's where I'm at so far), but he just can't catch a break. Staff Sergeant Salgado is a tank commander (_I'm a tiny tanker_) for a UMS-42D2 tank. For a mental picture, take a Starcraft siege tank: get rid of siege mode, give it more durable electronics, a top speed of 70 mph, a coaxial rail gun, a top mount gun, and the ability to free-fall 200 meters vertically while moving at 200 mph horizontally and work just fine afterwards, and you get this marvel of Terran engineering.

Also, Holy upload Batman! Enjoy and don't forget to leave a review/commenty thingy mabob, because it could just make this story better.

*Slang for FTL communications

Until next time, hasta luego!


	5. The Halls Of The Mighty

The Halls of the Mighty

January 24, 2448

_UNV E-551 "Werewolf"_

1,000 km from Construct R12

"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday; Douglas Research Station, this _UNV E-551_, we are under attack by enemy unknown, have sustained critical damage to life support and gravitics. Requesting immediate aid and fire support, RA/Dec 45/15, 20 minutes of fuel left. 3 aboard, one comatose. How copy Douglas Station?" The cockpit rocked once more as the pursuing ship scored a glancing hit on starboard engine 2. _There goes the little bit of maneuverability I had left_, the thought made Salle grit his teeth. Gauntt was hanging onto his seat for dear life and Waltman was out cold from his chest injury. You could see the little globules of blood floating inside of his helmet.

"_UNV E-5…_ is a negative… last. I s…gain, that…a negat… last. You… re…qui…atic."

"Shit, well, maybe it was too much to hope for the comms mast to still be intact." He had to resist the urge to start banging the console when the garbled reply came in he had enough problems as it was. Waltman was looking pale in his pressure suit, probably because of the blood loss. His ship was almost torn in half, and to top it off the anti-inertial systems were almost dead so he had to cut speed or risk blacking out.

Salle shook his head violently from side to side trying to dispel the incoming flashback. War never really left people whole, but that was why their little crew existed, to put it behind them and move on. Well, War was back and she was pissed at being left in the cold.

The stressed pilot frantically wiped the condensation off his helmet and the console. They had put on the pressure suits as a precaution and vented or recycled as much of the atmosphere on the ship as possible before contact. Sometimes paranoia coupled with hard earned experience paid high dividends. The three on the ship proper had survived the first hit because of those preparations. The shot through the meager dining area would have killed Waltman if he had not been wearing his pressure suit. Also, he would be floating in the void if there had been any atmosphere in the compartment.

"Sarah! Where are we at on approach?!"

"Range is one hundred kilometers to the translation point."

"Boost our IFF signal to max! Prepare to sync LiDAR system to the BattleNet! Paint that bastard red for the station's guns!" Salle blanched as another bolt of red sailed past on the view screen. "And get that damn Mayday call out again!" His knuckles turned white under his suit as he gripped the controls. It was do or die time.

*OOo.

Douglas Research Station

In orbit of Construct R11

"May…day…ay; Dou…arch St…on, this _UNV E-…_e are u…k by enemy unknown, have su…ed critical dama…fe suppo…d gr…ics. Reques…diate aid…fire sup…A/D…15, 20 min…of fuel le…oard, one co…se. How….uglas Station?" The radio tech may not have been able to figure out the specifics but the bits that were understandable were clearly a distress call.

"_UNV E-551_ that is a negative on your last. I say again, that is a negative on your last. You are coming in quiet and static." After that all he heard was static. He called up tactical and passed on the bit about 'enemy unknown'. Five minutes later, he was glad he did.

*OOo.

January 27, 2448

Mindoir Ansible Communications Center

Elatha, Mindoir

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for taking the time out of your schedules for this meeting," he started, "I am aware that you are all rather busy pe-."

"Dispense with the pleasantries Ambassador Wallace," one of the holographic ambassadors cut in, "What the hell is going on? The rather uninvolved government of Mindoir doesn't exactly demand an emergency meeting without reason. You people seem to view it as a good way to avoid being controlled by others." The slightly shimmering visage of the Terran official, Ambassador Li, demanded with a rather severe look on his face. His hologram was seated in a soft looking chair behind a solid looking wooden desk. Vapors would occasionally appear as if something just out of view were steaming.

_Maybe I interrupted his morning cup of tea? _Wallace ruefully thought to himself._ If so he's going to be cranky all day._

"I have to agree with my Confederate colleague. In its entire history Mindoir has never pulled the proverbial string that, by treaty, could bring the entire status quo down. So why now? What was it that Ambassador Gruber's ship engaged? There are no vessels in any of our databases that match those ships. They're too small to house equipment like ours, and their kinetic weapons are certainly more compact than ours without sacrificing power as the former ambassador and his crew can testify." That would be Ambassador Hansen, a woman who had as much steel in her heart as she did in her hair. The Unionists never were ones for trading words, they enjoyed getting straight to the point. It was probably a side effect of how their civilization grew.

_Military minded, as usual, can't have anyone threaten Centauri space dominance now, can we? I don't see gaining their cooperation as problematic._ The Mindoir ambassador smiled inwardly.

"Personally, I would just appreciate an explanation for the families of the five hundred men and women who died in the attack. FleetCom would also like to know why they received a priority one 'invasion imminent' distress call from a Neutral world during _peace_ time. That is regardless of the actual attack, the bosses don't like being in the dark." Ambassador Dubois stated in an even voice. This man was like a personification of the League, calm, professional and quite lethal when the situation called for it. The video of him eliminating an entire hit squad on his own with only his wits and a knife proved it.

_Good hearted, as always. The League will jump at the chance to help "the little guys," the bleeding hearts they are. They'll never see me coming. _This would be disturbingly easy if not for the rest of the representatives present.

The other representatives of the assorted Neutral Worlds and even a couple of corporations nodded. Wallace took a deep breath. You needed your composition when you planned to play chicken with the most powerful people in human history that barely anyone knew existed. This was the same group that had ended the Long War after all.

With a self depreciating look on his face, he began again, "To answer your questions we are not quite sure. As of now the Mindoir PDF is examining the captured ships to see what we can learn. However the last transmission received from the exploration vessel that was being pursued indicated that the contacts were of alien origin." That got everyone's attention, especially the Umojan's. Wallace continued, ignoring the bead of sweat on the tip of his nose, "As such, the Mindoir government is requesting that under Article 24 Section 12 of the Border Worlds Treaty and Article 10 Section 2 of the New Geneva Conventions that any and all forces that can be allocated be assembled to launch a counter-offensive."

The response to that statement ranged from quiet shock to absolute outrage. Wallace had shot for the moon with that declaration. And he had backed it up with treaty to boot! All Hell broke loose in holographic conference room as the representatives tried to process what had just been said. However, in the general pandemonium, only two representatives remembered that to hit a distant target you had to aim a little higher.

*OOo.

5 hours later

"How did it go?"

"It could have been worse. Wallace used the Treaties as a Sword of Damocles. It wasn't his end game though."

"What do you think the Mindoirians want Ambassador?"

"Hmm, that one is simple enough to answer. Wallace was trying to get an actual military presence over Mindoir. He and his government probably don't even care where it comes from as long as it's there. We all received the reports. The defenders should have lost, badly."

"And yet, they didn't. Ambassador I wish to show you something. This is some of the video recovered from our ships. It would behoove you to observe."

The recording began. Fairly standard stuff as far as fleet movement went. All vessels staggered in three dimensions with the light carrier to the rear. Screening elements with good LiDAR and point defense out in front. A small text box showing the ship log noted when several of the combat vessels began to reduce atmosphere in the interior and when they began to set up a temporary BattleNet between the League, PDF, and Umojan ships.

"This is all fascinating stuff Chancellor, but if I wished to observe procedural space combat I would simply go to the training exercises."

"Ah, but this is where it gets interesting."

Seconds later a considerably sized fleet of fifty ships appeared not even ten light seconds from the defensive formation. The most concerning thing however, was not the number of ships, but how fast they were moving. The video was paused when the Chancellor began to speak.

"Sensor readings showed that these ships were moving a .05 percent the speed of light, with no discernible warp field. Station-borne gravimetrics did not detect any kind of graviton emission from these vessels. Also note their size, rather light on the engines and mechanical space to be able to move that fast with human technology."

"Agreed, even the Centauri don't have tech this good."

Nodding the Chancellor resumed the playback. As the space battle began to unfold the ambassador noticed a few things. First and foremost, the enemy ships made little attempt to out-maneuver or isolate elements of the defenders from the main force. Second, most of the enemy weapons were spinal mount cannons. While this gave them more stopping power they could not produce the volume of fire needed to truly cripple a military vessel. Hell, the _LSV_ _Fox_ was missing a good chunk of its port side and its engines were clearly damaged beyond saving, but it was still doing some damage to the unidentified ships.

Lastly, the enemy seemed to make only a slight effort to avoid incoming fire. At first he thought it was because of operator incompetence or superior armor. He dismissed the latter that when he watched two of the attackers disintegrate after a point-blank shot by the _LSV Rift_ using its own spinal cannon. No, these attackers had some of the most pitiful vessel plating ever, but what they had instead was a shield. It was hard to spot but it was there. The slight blue shimmer when a shot connected. The Chancellor saw comprehension dawn on the Ambassador's face.

"You see it now don't you. They use the Substance to make their technology work. We have labored for hundreds of years to solve its mysteries. Now we find a source for answers."

Suddenly, knowing gave way to absolute confusion.

"But if they know so much, why do they fight like idiots?"

*OOo.

Concurrently several light years away

"So what do you think of their capabilities Admiral?"

"Frankly, Madam President, they are an advanced yet incompetent military force. Traditionally, scouting elements are made up of soldiers from the top twenty-five percent of an armed force. These however, their skill is laughable but that is our only saving grace in this situation."

"I presume you are concerned about their technology?"

"Somewhat, yes, but the bigger problem will be numbers. If that truly was a scouting element then humanity better learn to kiss and make up otherwise we'll be crushed under the sheer number of ships they have. A standard deep space scouting group with strike capabilities is usually between eight and twelve ships depending on what you expect to find. A fast assault flotilla will normally have about twenty combat vessels plus a few supply and medical ships.

"They sent fifty ships into hostile territory, in the blind, in what would have been a textbook capability probe if had been done using drones. But each and every ship had live crew. We detected EM transmissions coming from their ships during the attack, likely trying to send reports or request aid. It just doesn't seem to fit. Their technology is simultaneously more and less advanced than ours."

"What is your recommendation then Admiral Grissom?"

"Even though it is exactly what Mindoir wants, I recommend we mobilize the 3rd and 5th combat fleets as well as the 2nd, 4th, and 6th support fleets."

The president shot him a quizzical look. "That is quite the investment, Jon. Five of our fleets activated to protect a backwater?"

"Madam President, that backwater is about to become part of the largest battlefield in human history. When the enemy comes back we need to be ready. The talking heads will undoubtedly call it an over-reaction and the Terrans will also protest our presence. But if there is one thing I'm certain of," Grissom stared her straight in the eyes as he said it, "we can't lose that beachhead."

*OOo.

January 28, 2448

His Honorable Lord Majesty's Hall of Glorious Ascendance

Lushay, Khar'shan

"Master, the rear-admiral has arrived."

"Very well, bring him here slave."

"Yes master." The asari bowed and swiftly moved to comply with her orders.

He heard the doors open and the slave tell the admiral of his audience. The door was shut a little too firmly for Balak's liking. They were solid wood craved from a rare species of tree found in the tropics. He resolved to discipline his slave after the meeting. It would not do for it to damage some of his more prized possessions.

"I trust the hunting went well, admiral." Balak said, greeting the tried looking admiral. "The traders wear you out already? Clamoring for the new goods are they?" A smile spread across his face at the prospect.

"No Lord Minister Balak, they are not. We could not even secure a handful of the primitives." The admiral was staring rather intently at the floor, waiting for the wrath of his superior.

"What?" came the sharp question from Balak, "I gave you twenty assault ships and even a few cruisers. There were twelve scout ships as well. Not to even mention the eight slaver ships you were given, and you mean to tell me that you did not even capture one of these creatures?" The words came out as a gravelly hiss.

"They were stronger than we expected. It was foolish of us to rush in headlong like we have done will several of the servant races. However, that is the benefit of hindsight. These new creatures are cunning, their ships both more and less advanced than ours. They know the art of war in space in a way we have lost. Not a single ship that broke from the our formation survived," The admiral waited for the inevitable. He hoped Balak would be gracious enough to make his punishment quick. A bullet to the head was preferable to the myriad ways the Hegemony rewarded failure.

"I see. Ensign, you have brought disgrace unto yourself, your unit, and this office. I hereby strip you of your rank and confine you to quarters until such a time I consider your services necessary. Is that clear?" Balak's tone was even and his punishment generous but it was a cold comfort to the disgraced admiral.

"Yes, Lord Minister, it is."

"Good, you are dismissed."

As the once admiral now ensign exited his office, Balak reached for his phone. He had some calls to make. Most were about an expansion in the slave market and the acquisition of a competent military leader. After finishing the more pressing calls he called up an old acquaintance, maybe the Ministry of Science would be interested in some new equipment and products to pull apart.

*OOo.

February 10, 2448

The Citadel

Serpent Nebula

Councilor Esheel was not fond of surprises. If something was surprising it meant that could be a threat, and she always preferred to remove threats before they appeared. Right now, a very serious surprise was in her hands, on a data pad, and it grated on her nerves. _Five _Mass Relay activations were logged by the Citadel Master Control System in the last galactic standard month.

Councilors Tevos and Sparatus sat in equally stunned silence. The implications of the data collected were disturbing to say the least. Initially, there had been some hope that it was just a sign that a new race was entering the galactic stage. Then, one by one, other very isolated Relays began activating. The many intelligence organs of the Citadel quickly came to one of three conclusions. First and least plausible, multiple young races had emerged at roughly the same time, in the same general region of space, with absolutely zero warning. Second and only slightly more plausible, a young race had managed to travel though the Relay System between the five relays undetected and without noticing the hubs of civilization on the way there. Lastly, and most likely of all, the Hegemony had called the Council's bluff.

The only commonality between the Relays involved aside from their activation times were their proximity to the Batarian Hegemony. Only a few short months ago the ambassador of the Batarians, one Edan Jath'perah, had stormed out of a meeting about the Batarians' continued use of slaves despite it being illegal in Citadel space. The threat of sanctions and tariffs being waved in his face did not exactly sit well with him. Neither did the way to avoid said sanctions and tariffs.

Esheel gave a frustrated grumble as she continued to read the report. That was always the problem with the Batarians, too entrenched in their 'traditions' to admit any kind of change. The Council was even willing to be lenient and give the Hegemony a fifty year transition period so they could move away from slave labor without crippling their economy. But no, the Batarians' sense of superiority and self-righteousness won the day with that discussion.

The STG report all but confirmed it. The tell-tale signs of Hegemony expansion were all there: large fleet movement, mobilization of their engineering corps with some combat arms for security, and the sudden jump in manufacturing. That the 'Department of Cultural Exchange' had been called in made it clear enough what was going to happen. They were looking for new sources of productivity. Still, in the back of her mind there was a little seed of doubt. It was too sudden, too impulsive for every the Batarians. This was a move on par with the Krogan seizing Asari and Salarian worlds, and _that_ started a war no one wanted to repeat, without even mentioning the possibility of a second Rachni War.

Something was happening in the Terminus and the Traverse and Esheel didn't like it.

*OOo.

**A/N: **

Turns out 'handful' is the correct way to write it not 'hand full' like most normal people do. Although one definitely sounds/looks weirder than the other.

On the note of weird stuff, I just powered through most of the _Evangelion_ fanfic _Nobody Dies_ which I found fairly enjoyable, if a bit cheesy, until it has Fuyutski play the role of John McClain. That was the point where I realized how far gone the series was and moved to something more grounded: _Shinji and Warhammer 40K_. Not really, but that made you pause for a second didn't it? No, I discovered the wonderful Halo/Mass Effect crossover that is _When There Was A Tomorrow_ by General Rage. I haven't gotten around to reading the sequel but if it's a good as _Tomorrow_ then I cannot wait to get my hands on it.

The next part is dedicated mostly to combat IN SPACE and how humans do things versus how a Modern Major General in former Council Space does things. Tactic, technobabble that means something, and gun porn ahoy next chapter! (It's not lemon promise!)

Also, I wanted to thank you guys getting this fic across the 100 follows mark.

As always, feel free to tell me what I did wrong/needs polish/you would like to see more of etc. in the review/commenty thingies.

Until next time, later!

**Edit: **5-16-2014: grammar and spelling fix, page break replacement.


	6. Prelude

Prelude

January 25, 2448

Marcus Planetside Lift Station

Elatha, Mindoir

_Why so early? _This was the only thought running through the mind of a very exhausted Hannah Shepard as she dropped onto a bench and began to wait for the next ride up to the primary spaceport over Mindoir.

"Morning, Shepard. Nice to know they dragged most of the PDF out of bed at 0200 on a Saturday, don't you agree?" The speaker plopped down into the seat next to her with a sigh.

"Save it Zabaleta. It is too early for humor, especially yours. I should be at home with my kids. I just hope the babysitter can take care of it until they call off the state of emergency." Hannah Shepard shook her head wishing she had gotten more than two hours of sleep before being called in. Sleepy soldiers were a liability.

"Yeah, and I should be at third base with a bar babe right now, but you can't always get what you want." That comment earned the Marine first lieutenant a leer from the sleep deprived Navy lieutenant.*

"Just be glad my kids weren't here when you said that. I'd hate to have to make sure that you where unable of speaking for the next few weeks on top of having to wash out James' mouth or explain that comment to Elizabeth."

At the mention of the of the children's names Zabaleta perked up.

"Speaking of the kids, how are they doing? I haven't seen Jimmy or Ellie in weeks. Trying to keep them away from bad influences, are you?" He playfully waggled his eyebrows at Hannah.

"Yes, I'm am absolutely trying to keep my young and very impressionable two year-olds away from you," Hannah shot her friend a drool stare as she said it. "Really it's mostly been because I'm so busy. James' fits are starting to worry me; the doctors can't seem to find the cause. We've been racing back and forth across the city trying to find anyone that can do something for him but we're still getting nowhere. And to top it all off, Elizabeth is definitely going through the 'terrible twos' and with a vengeance." The exasperated sigh she finished that statement with was all Ernesto needed to know she was more than a little frazzled. He seriously doubted that the lack of sleep was helping. "So what about you Zabaleta? What have you been up to?" She asked giving him a sideways glance.

"Not much, seeing as my weekend pass was cancelled when the state of emergency was called. I had my CO yelling at me to get my sorry rear end back to the base time yesterday and be ready for deployment by zero-three hundred. Mind you, he was calling me at zero-two-thirty and I was forty minutes from base."

"That must have gone over well." There was an undeniable smirk on Shepard's face.

"Eh, it wasn't too bad. I was one of the first people back from pass so they went easy on me," said Ernesto with a shrug. He was about to continue when the PA dinged and came to life.

"_0430 Lift to Persephone Station is now boarding. Please approach the terminal and present your tickets to board." _

Sighing Hannah looked over to her companion. "I guess we'll have to continue this conversation later. I have to go."

"See you later then Shepard."

{-0-}

_MDV Yuki_

Mindoir High Orbit

"Good morning, Shep!" the cheerful greeting came from the station next to her.

"Wish that was true, Winnie," Hannah shot back as she took her seat at damage control.

"Bad morning then, Miss Grumpy?" Winslow asked with the cheesiest fake pout Hannah had ever seen.

Shepard snorted, "It is until I get some coffee and get to see my kids again."

"Relax, coffee is what ensigns and enlisted are for in the military. As for the Rugrats, nothing bad is gonna happen to them. Especially not when mean momma bear is here to stop any baddies." The goofy lopsided smile on the communications specialist's face cheered Hannah ever so slightly.

"I guess you're right." Was all she said back before flagging down a passing Ensign to get her some coffee. Maybe the morning was not a total loss after all.

About thirty minutes later, Hannah had downed enough coffee to function, and had given the poor ensign quite the work out. Finishing off yet another cup, she compiled her report for the CIC's AI, Nagato, on the readiness status of all countermeasures, safety equipment, and protocols. Right about now the hours of painstaking PMCS** performed on the ship seemed like anything but the waste of time people always said it was. The power to vent atmo from any compartment, lock down entire sections, and jettison volatile equipment were a button press away for her. But, with any luck, doing that wouldn't be necessary with the almost century old ship in top form.

For its time a _Tenki_ Class medium cruiser was a tough customer. Built by the League at the height of the Long War they were able to take absurd amounts of damage and give back almost as much as they could take. The class leader held the line against a Terran fleet packing two dreadnoughts and two carriers with nothing more than token frigate, corvette, and drone support. The battle was meant to be a delaying action so the main League fleet could move into defensive positions around the target of the Terran fleet. Instead, the light fleet managed to destroy the majority of the vessels in the Terran fleet as well as severely damage both dreadnoughts and one of the carriers. The majority of the larger vessels damaged or destroyed by the League ships could be directly credited to the _Tenki_.

Then again, the _Yuki_'s days of glory were long past but just knowing they were in the vessel that had the highest crew survival rate for any combat vessel of its generation eased the tension considerably. After another few hours of waiting most of the excitement had died down, all stations had given a report to Nagato who then reported to the captain. The _Yuki_ and the rest of the PDF ships were combat ready. Around 0945 Mindoir Standard Time the League reinforcements arrived and were added without incident to the PDF's BattleNet along with a hand full of Umojan ships. However, there were some minor coordination issues for their orbital positioning.

At 1400 Mindoir Standard Time, Douglas Station reported an increase in the Construct's energy output before all communication with the station was lost.

"Sir, contacts detected. Range ten light seconds and closing. General speed is .05, heading 90 over 32, relative rotation is unknown."

"Tactical, how are we doing?"

"Nagato has synched with Ayanami and Kirishima. LiDAR and optical sensors confirm fifty unidentified vessels. All weapons systems Condition Three."

"Communications report."

"Comm links established, no alarms. Transition to flex-net status from tight beam laser will be complete in one minute."

"Good, Damage Control?"

"All systems are go, sir."

"Helmsman, give us T-orientation. Tactical, inform all weapon batteries to move to Condition Two and begin charging. Comms, signal the admiral that we are ready."

"Right away, sir," came the chorus from the specialists on the bridge.

{-0-}

"Ah, these primitives have a welcoming party for us."

The bridge crew aboard the slaver fleet's flagship snickered at the admiral's joke. These creatures were laughable. When the fleet had passed through the relay a defensive station nearby opened fire immediately upon spotting them, the rounds it had fired barely even drained the shields. Not only that, it only took a few shots from one of the frigates to destroy the flimsy little thing. Three shots reduced it to so much scrap metal and space junk.

Now the new servants of the Hegemony were deployed in the most backward formation around their home world the Batarians had ever seen. All the primitive ships had their main guns perpendicular to the attackers. It could easily been a motion of surrender if not for the cannons appearing on the broadsides of those ship.

When the sensor technician reported this, another chorus of hyena like laughter broke out on the bridge. _These primitives_, they thought, _no wise civilization has used broadside cannons in millennia_. _Only main guns have the power to break through shields_. Believing that their superiority was assured the slavers charged straight for the defender's formation.

Four light seconds away they had their targets selected. At three light seconds, they fired. When the gap between the fleets was down to two light seconds, all hell broke loose. The Batarians could not believe their eyes.

{-0-}

"Sir, we are detecting heat build-up in their main guns," shouted one of the sensor techs from her station.

"Systems, signal the crew to prepare for atmospheric drain and switch to inertials only," replied the captain in calm almost soothing voice.

"Right away sir." With that even more klaxons came roaring to life informing the crew they better get their pressure suits sealed or they were going to have a very uncomfortable death.

Over the PA Nagato's synthetic voice declared, "Attention crew, we are now at Condition One. You have one minute before atmospheric drain. Please seal all pressure suits or report to an airlock before the drain begins."

The bridge was a flurry of activity. Some of the security personnel had to go to the bridge airlock to suit up while most of the technicians just had to reach for where they had put their helmets. Standard procedure was if you were considered 'critical crew' you were required to wear, or have in arm's reach, your pressure suit at all times. This grated on some people's nerves, but like so much it made sense in combat.

By the time the drain began, Hannah and the entire bridge staff were sealed tight. Like during the drills, vents in the floor and ceiling opened to suck the air out. The loud whooshing hiss of air racing past her became quieter and quieter as there was less and less air. Once, she had asked an engineer how it worked. Most of what she got out of the conversation was that the gas was not being vented into space but rather going into balloons inside the ship that are in a vacuum. He was using some very technical phrasing but that was apparently the basics.

A little green light on her HUD let her know the drain was complete and the suit seal was good. If the light turned red, that meant there was a hole or break in the suit and you had ten seconds before your innards decided they wanted out. Solid yellow meant the suit oxygen was below ten percent, and blue meant you could safely break the suit seal. All very fun stuff.

The helmet speaker crackled to life, "Sir, contacts at three light seconds and closing. We have detected weapons discharge!"

"Understood, Helm, evasive maneuvers now. Damage control to standby."

"Aye, aye sir."

"Weapons, do we have firing solutions?"

"Yes sir, targets are locked and we are ready to fire."

"Thank you weapons." The bridge communications net went silent for a few seconds.

"Admiral has granted us clearance to fire. Give these assholes hell Weapons."

"With pleasure, sir." With those words, the _Yuki_ opened fire.

{-0-}

"Lord Admiral, the primitives are opening fire."

The Batarian admiral just smiled and reclined in his chair. If the defense station were any indication there was no danger of the shields dropping below fifty percent even under concentrated fire. As well, those pitiful ships should be dispatched with a single shot each. _Maybe I will hunt them down, one by one_, he mused as he gazed at the specks of light on his display. _All too easy._

"Lord Admiral, we are detecting new contacts! Range one light second and closing awfully fast."

The admiral was reeling for a second. _How? _He silently wondered, _how did they appear out of nowhere and appear so close?_ Out loud he asked, "Sensors, put the new contacts on the main board. Any ideas were they came from?"

The main hologram pinged as the twenty new contacts were added. The contacts on the board doubled as the technician added them to the display.

"Lord Admiral, they appear to be originating from the two large vessels at the center of the enemy formation." Even as the sensor technician spoke the hologram displayed several more points of light emerging from the two ships. Now the defenders were at sixty ships.

"Leading elements are reporting damage, Lord Admiral! Two frigates and one cruiser are reporting hull breaches."

"Lord Admiral, several of the smaller contacts are holding station just beyond effective GUARDIAN range. They appear to be emitting low power lasers."

"Lord Admiral, the lead element is reporting severe damage. Shields for cruiser _Arafir _are at ten percent. Cruisers _Ligrafis_,_ Kra'has_, _Kofral_ and frigates _Lightning_, _Striker_, _Absolution_,_ Cleanser_, and _Penitence _are reporting loss of ship integrity."

The Admiral's head jolted up in shock. _What? The smaller ships could be handled easily by the GUARDIAN ships but how is their paltry fleet doing this much damage? Their fixed defense at the relay was pathetic._

_But what if it wasn't a military station? _Asked a voice in the back of his mind. _What if this is only the tip of the iceberg?_

_But why, if this is what they are truly capable of then why was the station so inadequate? That would mean they weren't expecting a fight but had a small fleet on hand? We were redirected from a slaving run on one of the minor races, but where did their ships come from? _The admiral quickly shoved those thoughts from his mind. Worrying that he may be out of his depth would do him no good. The best he could do was to stay calm and salvage what he could. He began steadily issuing orders for the other elements and began moving the pieces into place.

{-0-}

"Sir, scanner drones are detecting venting atmosphere from seven of the vessels in the enemy's leading element."

"Destroyers _Magnolia, White Bay, Spring Hope, _and _Big Leaf_ reporting loss of hull integrity, no casualties."

"Scanner drones report seven contacts have hull breaches and are venting large quantities of atmo, sir."

"Fighter drones will be in combat range in five seconds. Bombers and missile carriers are ten seconds out."

"Very well, Ayanami, inform the _Yuki _and her element to link up with the League frigates. Have the Umojans cover their flank and get that idiot ambassador's corvette out of here. It's time to seize the initiative."

"Aye, Aye admiral."

The _Yuki _and its attending frigates moved smoothly from the southern region of the formation up to the higher orbital location where they would link up with the League frigates and the few Umojan ships. As the group of four ships silently slipped through the void Hannah stared out of her view port. That view never got old. The blue and green ball of Mindoir revolved serenely below while the stars above blinked knowingly back at her. This time though he knew that out there among those points of light were creatures more than willing to kill a people they had never met.

From the northern portion of the formation came the three frigates from the League. They were not exactly large but they weren't small coming in at a solid four hundred meters long. Each one had a dorsal rail gun that could deliver sixty terajoules of 'wreck your day,' twenty-four turrets with dual cannons, and the best GUARDIAN systems known to man.

Trailing not far behind them were the Umojan ships. They were moving in a reverse wedge, the 'front' of the formation facing away from their direction of travel. As the two destroyers and four frigates joined the assault formation Hannah stopped to appreciate just how well maintained the Umojan ships were. The exteriors were free of the dents and scratches that all deep space vessels accumulated over time. Sure you could see where they had replaced damaged plates but you really had to look for it. Even the Centauri don't repair dust collision damage that often, one of the perks of being a corporate ship and not government.

As the yellow Umojan ships and blue League ships finished settling into formation the captain gave out orders. As the senior officer amongst in the formation he was the one coming up with the game plan. Like most military plans it was simple because simple was flexible.

The group was going to swing wide and boost toward the moon. Once there they would use a gravitational 'kick' from said moon and coast to their target position off the momentum gained. When the formation was within one hundred thousand kilometers the Umojans at the rear would jettison two of their coolants tanks splitting the enemy's attention between the defenders, a diversion, and the ships that were flanking them.

The best part about it? It worked flawlessly.

Caught between the two prongs of the human attack and being fooled by the heat dump into thinking a third, larger group, was coming the aliens panicked and broke formation. With the enemy now in disarray the _Yuki_'s group began its slow advance across the remaining space between the two forces. Once they were within fifty thousand kilometers of the shattered enemy formation the defenders around the planet adjusted fire to begin herding enemy ships directly into the firing line for the mixed force. By the time the League and PDF ships were a twenty thousand kilometers all weapons were primed and at full power. The _Yuki's _captain gave the signal and the Batarians were on the run.

{-0-}

The Lord Admiral grit his teeth as his cruiser was rocked once more by incoming fire. His fleet was barely operational anymore. It had all gone sideways when they had detected a rather large heat signature near the planet's moon. All too late the Admiral realized it was a trap, a trick to divert his attention. In the moment he lost focus the primitives moved in for the kill.

Their small attack craft had dispersed in a hurry just before the natives let the big guns have their fun. Even though the slugs were moving far slower than anything his ships were firing they still packed a serious punch and were difficult to dodge at this range. Now he watched with resignation as the panicked crews of the slaving fleet were massacred ship by ship.

He was running out of options. "Comms, order all full function ships to form up to the rear of the formation. Helm, take us to join them. We're leaving."

{-0-}

"Sir, five of the enemy contacts are breaking off. They appear to be on a course for the Construct."

"Thank you, Sensors. _UNV Windbreaker_ this is _MDV Yuki, _we are tracking five enemy contacts breaking off from the main formation. Take your element and give them hell."

With that half the Umojan rear guard broke off and took an intercept course for the fleeing ships. Meanwhile the _LSV Rift_ was reigning hell on the battle field; blasting two enemy vessels that were probably frigates into space dustat point blank range as revenge for its sister ship, the _Fox_. The _Yuki_'s captain permitted himself a tentative smile. Despite being out numbered, out ranged, and out massed by the enemy they were winning.

As his group moved inexorably forward sweeping aside the token resistance of the now crippled enemy, the defenders on station in orbit ceased firing and began advancing to ensure that all the alien vessels were disabled. Drones packed with sensor equipment sifted through the wreckage searching for signs of life in the debris field. While the crews of the disabled human vessels only suffered moderate casualties very few of the aliens were captured alive. Most of them died from decompression and burns caused by their ship's atmosphere igniting. The few that were still alive were either locked inside of escape pods or flailing around as they drifted through space.

A short time later, the debris collection ships arrived. Each one was essentially a graviton generator on steroids with the sole purpose of collecting the bits and pieces floating in the void. Within thirty minutes the little ships had cleared the space over Mindoir of wreckage and squashed a few unlucky aliens.

Four hours after the last shot had been fired over Mindoir the Umojans came back. Apparently the enemy used some form of non-warp FTL to escape. The Umojans opted not to follow into the unknown territory beyond the Construct. But what they saw when they reached the construct was disheartening to say the least. Douglass Station had broken into thousands of pieces; all three hundred of its staff were dead.

{-0-}

March 3, 2448

Office of the State

Elatha, Mindoir

The weeks following the battle were an exercise in controlled chaos as the government of Mindoir scrambled to provide a fledgling Coalition of Systems with combat data, dissection reports, casualty numbers, enemy capability reports, equipment analysis, and any other intelligence on the enemy they had available. On top of that they were attempting to coordinate the landing of advance units that were deployed by the Terrans, Centauri, and Umojans as well as relief for regions of the planet devastated by shots that had missed or debris that had reached atmosphere before the battle was over.

Meanwhile, the Terrans and Centauri were bickering over who had jurisdiction where and the Umojans refused to cooperate on the grounds that they were a corporation and not an actual governmental force which, in their minds, put them firmly outside the chain of command. The League was grumbling over 'system sovereignty' and 'the rights of the little guys' but was otherwise working on civilian relief and building up their armed forces to levels not seen since the Long War.

Across human space debates raged. Talking heads spat at each other's faces. The liberals were demanding an immediate end to the military build-up of Mindoir and that there should be negotiations. The conservatives were demanding stronger defenses around the core worlds and that we should bomb the aliens to oblivion. Lastly, the conspiracy theorists were screaming that the government was lying about the aliens being hostile and that there were ruins on Mars. Everyone that could think somewhat clearly decided to hold off judgment until more was known.

All of this gave Ambassador Wallace, the de facto leader of the Coalition, a rather serious headache. When everything began falling into place after the Centauri committed to defending Mindoir Wallace naively thought he could pull off his gambit without a hitch. What happened just proved the saying about the best laid plans.

He had been in eight hour meetings every day for the past three weeks trying to hash out how the Coalition would even function. To say it was slow going was an understatement, for every point brought up by one of the ambassadors another would be shot down. The only things anyone agreed one were that the aliens were a threat, and we should all help Mindoir. Everything else, from supply lines to chains of command and areas of operation were up in the air.

Wallace shuffled some of the paperwork on his desk. Most were a mixed bag of proposals, arguments, rebuttals, and the results of squabbling between the representatives. _Maybe I should have given this a little more thought before I pushed them to go all in, _Wallace drearily reflected. _Yes, maybe I really should have considered the consequences of this because it seems this alliance will fail before it even truly starts. _With a sigh Wallace got back to his paperwork hoping that the analysts could solve the mystery of the enemy's equipment.

{-0-}

University of Elatha, Science Department

Elatha, Mindoir

"Any joy?" asked one of the researchers.

"No, we keep running into the same problem. It seems like their technology only works because of this blue goo they have, but every time we activate anything it expends some of the goo." Emma ran her fingers through her hair as she continued, "Not only that but this stuff is dangerous if not outright lethal. It's extremely reactive, reacts explosively to high amp currents, and let's off enough radiation that most of the people working with it are worried about getting cancer. Genica, we're going to run out of samples before we even learn worthwhile about this substance. Oh, and the people pulling apart the weapons and drive cores won't stop bugging us, because they need our results too."

"That bad, huh?" Genica asked her colleague

"Yeah, but there isn't really anything we can do about it. We're sending our data out to every researcher that wants to take a look. Who knows maybe one of them will have a flash of genius, but right now we would need a miracle to get the information we need in a reasonable time frame. Enough about my headache though, how's the hack going?"

"About as we'll as your attempts to solve the mystery of the blue goo. We don't even have their written language to go off of. At the moment we're alternating between waiting for linguistics to get back to us with an alphabet and tearing apart anything that too damaged so we can learn about their hardware. So far, none of us are impressed."

"No need to look so disappointed, at least you're getting somewhere. But that still leaves the question of why you're disappointed." Emma playfully squinted her eyes at her friend as if to analyze her.

"It's disappointing because their equipment is nothing I haven't seen before. If anything its less sophisticated than what we use."

"I see, you thought the aliens would give you cool toys," Emma stated with a hint of doubt.

"Okay, fine, I did, but I blame all those movies when we were growing up!" The bout of laughter that proclamation caused helped liven up a rather boring and unproductive day.

{-0-}

**A/N:** Okay short explanation as to why this took so long. I wrote a version, nuked it, wrote another one, nuked it, and then I wrote this. One of the major reasons why was because of the math. To say that mass accelerator rounds connect with the force of a high yield nuclear weapon would be the pinnacle of understatement considering that, unless I did the math wrong, a 20 kg slug moving at .02c generates over 20 terajoules of kinetic energy or about the same amount of force created by the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. So screw the math of the weapons! BIG NUMBERS GO!

Thing number two that made me rewrite a few times was whether or not to include the Shepards. Why? Because that changes when the Reapers arrive, but I've come up with a solution for that so it should be okay. Also, writer's block sucks. The work around? Write something else for a little bit, go watch a good movie, and then sit down and power through the chapter.

Okay, housekeeping is done. On that note I am very tempted to throw in some elements of All You Need Is Kill (_Edge of Tomorrow_ for people who went to go see the movie) by it will likely just be shout-outs/references because knowing the future is just a little OP. Also, for those of you like action movies and black comedy (has nothing to do with skin tone) seriously, go watch _Edge_ _of Tomorrow_, it's good. If you want a gritty, war is hell, eat-a-gun-because-this-is-hopeless type story go read All You Need Is Kill. Sidenote: the name has been making me mangle the Beatles "All You Need Is Love," but that's neither here nor there.

Useful knowledge and stuff:

One light second = 299,792.458 km for you metric nutters or 186,282.397 mi for you customary weirdoes or beyond the horizon for normal people but not for machines.

*The Marines follow standard officer ranks i.e. 2LT is O-1, 1LT is O-2, CPT is O-3, and so on. The Navy, being weirdoes, have Ensign (ENS) O-1, Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG) O-1, LT O-2, and Captains at O-5 or the equivalent to Colonels in other services with the Commander ranks for O-3 and O-4. At least their enlisted ranks make more sense than what the Air Force uses.

**Preventative Maintenance Checks and Services

As per usual please feel free to share any questions, comments, or concerns with me. I respond to most of the ones that are signed.

Until next time, later.


	7. Codex: Military

**Codex: Human Military**

_Philosophy_

Human military doctrine is something of an oddity in Citadel space. While most other races have discovered multiple ways to wage war, over time they have gravitated toward particular styles of tactics and strategy. For instance, Turians favor large unit maneuvers and fontal assaults with overwhelming force to subdue enemies. Salarians believe it is best to destroy any potential threat before it can oppose them and do so through disinformation, espionage, and assassination. Finally, the Asari rely on small, highly trained and extraordinarily well equipped teams of commandos to achieve their goals and rarely operate in numbers larger than 20 individuals outside of the naval vessels. Humans however are not only aware of all of these options, but can fluidly shift their scale and use of force to combat most any method of attack efficiently. The strength of human military philosophy lies in asymmetric warfare.

The core of human combat action is to seek weaknesses in the opposing force (sometimes called OpFor) and exploit them. This can be in any element of the battlespace be it economic, political, or military in nature. For economic warfare a virus might be planted into vital account management systems or stock markets corrupted. For political cases bribes, blackmail, and assassination tend to be the order of the day. Militarily, humans favor ambush tactics and maneuver warfare on all levels. In something that is a surprise to most Citadel species, humans do not tend to use total encirclement, always leaving at least one avenue of escape for enemy forces.

For further commentary on human combat philosophy read _The Art of War_ by Sun Tzu and _The Thirty-Six Stratagems_.

_Surface Warfare Technologies_

The core tenants of human warfare can be summed up by the words Shoot, Move, and Communicate. To that end humans have strived for centuries. Weapons systems became deadlier and more reliable, vehicles became faster and safer, and the precursor to the modern BattleNet was born. LandWarNet, also known at the time of its use as Land Warrior, was a system that allowed real-time tracking, communication, and GPS data for its users. The back-pack mounted rig weighed roughly 10kg and was exorbitantly expense to operate and maintain. During the Long War the system was refined by all participants in the conflict. Eventually BattleNet connectivity was standardized for all Individual Armored Units (IAUs) with the master control and combat recorder weighing roughly 2kg. Modern BattleNet systems in IAUs record user vital signs, motions, ammo expenditure, and helmet footage and audio.

IAUs come in several shapes and sizes but the defining thing about IAUs is their purpose. They are the ultimate progeny of body armor and mechanical strength enhancement. Some such as the XOS M-XII are rather bare bones with basic ballistic armor with several gaps in coverage, an outdated exoskeletal support system, and a dismal five hour battery life. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the Umoja Phantom armor, the League's ONI system, and the Terran NANO 7 armor. All provide full body protection, are airtight, classified as MOPP level 5 equipment (top tier NBC protection), can withstand .50 caliber fire in all weak points, can survive artillery strikes, and allow users to perform superhuman tasks with the ONI system's top run speed of 60 kph (40 mph), the NANO 7's three ton lift capability, and the Phantom's cloaking ability. These armor systems greatly improved soldier survivability during the Terminus War and the later Reaper and Leviathan Wars. Interestingly, they also caused IFVs (Infantry Fighting Vehicles) to become obsolete but didn't because of the difference in supply numbers.

IFVs or Infantry Fighting Vehicles are regarded as archaic and are now more commonly used as when more specialized vehicles are unavailable, "battle taxis," or patrol vehicles instead of as front line fighters. Originally meant to give close fire support and provide rapid transport for soldiers to the fight the IFV had trouble establishing its niche. Fire support could be provided by tanks and artillery which had better survivability and firepower, respectively, than an IFV. Up armored people movers could shuttle up to twelve fully equipped soldiers to the front while the internal systems of an IFV limited that number to six. One of the last generations of human IFVs was the MAKO which came with an emphasis on insertion and extraction missions and was largely only used by special operators.

_Vessel Types and Purposes_

Human vessels tend to be modular in design to allow for easy repair and retrofitting. However, most vessels are given specialized tasks when in flotilla or fleet sized groups. It is only in smaller scouting parties that their ships' flexibility shines. On a broad scale human ships follow tradition ship breakdowns with carriers, dreadnaughts, and heavier cruisers as capital ships and cruisers, frigates, destroyers, and corvettes filling out the lower echelons of their navies.

They also sport several non-combatant vessels namely medical ships (hospital ships), tenders (supply ships), and multi-purpose transports (personnel carriers). These vessels have a much larger emphasis on defensive capabilities and maneuverability than offensive power. As such they are often to the rear or in the center of the formation to provide the most security.

All data is sorted in order of types at the beginning of the entry. Numbers given are standards for each type given.

Carriers

**Types**:

Scout, Medium, Super, Fleet, Capital

**Role**:

Support and Mobile Command

**Length**:

150m-250m; 250m-500m; 500m-2km; 5km+; Unknown (Est. 10 km)

**Displacement**:

Weight: 65,000-95,000 tons; 90,000-200,000 tons; 200,000-Unknown (Est. 600,000 tons); Unknown (Est. 4,000,000+ tons); Unknown (Est. 12,000,000+ tons)

**Power** **plant**:

1x Fusion Turbine, 10x Solar Array, 2x Super Capacitor (Back-up); 2x Fusion Turbine, 15x Solar Array, 4x Super Capacitor (Back-up), Micro-Capacitors (Localized Back-up); 2-5x Fusion Turbine, 20-60x Solar Array, 4-20x Super Capacitor (Back-up), Nano-Capacitors (Localized Back-up), 4x Diesel Motor (Back-up), 10x Flywheel (Back-up); 1-3x Anti-Matter Reactor, 5-10x Fusion Turbine, 200-400x Solar Array, 100-200x Super Capacitor (Back-up), Nano-Capacitor (Localized Back-up), 25-50x Diesel Motor (Back-up), 10-30x Flywheel (Back-up); Unknown (Est. 10x Antimatter Reactors or 50x Fusion Turbines, 600x Solar Arrays, Micro Capacitors)

**Propulsion**:

1x Slip-Drive, 2x Large Ion Engine, 8x Ion Engine, 12x Maneuvering Cluster; 1x Slip-Drive, 1x Fusion Torch, 2x Large Ion Engine 10x Ion Engine, 12x Maneuvering Cluster; 1x Slip-Drive, 2-3x Fusion Torch, 2-4x Large Ion Engine, 8-12x Ion Engine, 16-20x Maneuvering Cluster; 1x Type-70 Slip-Drive (Wide Area Warp Drive), 1x Orion Drive (Emergency Only), 2-6x Anti-Matter Engine, 4-12x Fusion Torch, 4-8x Large Ion Engines, 4-8x Ion Engine, 40x Maneuvering Cluster; 4x Anti-Matter Engine, 16x Fusion Torch, 24x Large Ion Engine, Remainder Unknown (Est. 2x Orion Drive, 48x Ion Engine, 48x Chemical Motors, 40+ Maneuvering Clusters)

**Speed**: Note these are maximum **SAFE **speeds. After these speeds passengers will begin to experience g force and/or the vessel's structure will be under stress.

In real space: 65,000 m/s; 65,000 m/s; 80,000 m/s; 100,000 m/s; Unknown (Est. 15,000,000m/s)

In warp space: 2,400,000 km/s or 8x light speed; 2,400,000 km/s; 2,400,000 km/s; 2,700,000 km/s or 9x light speed; Unknown (Est. 48,000,000 km/s or 16x light speed)

**Range**:

15 light-years at warp or 20 years real space travel; 25 light-years at warp or 30 years real space travel; 30-40 light-years at warp or 30-45 real space travel; 30-40 light-years at warp or 40-60 years real space travel; Unknown (Est. 90 light-years or 100 years real space travel)

**Complement**:

500-2,000 crew; 2,000-3,000 crew; 3,500-5,000 crew; 10,000-50,000 crew; 100,000+ crew

**Armor**:

1m Ablative Armor, 1m Hybridized Alloy, 50cm Heat Redirection Meta-Material, 50cm Radiation Shielding, Titan/Centurion/Sentinel Armor (over vital spaces); 1m Ablative Armor, 1.5m Hybridized Alloy, 75cm Heat Redirection Meta-Material, 1m Radiation Shielding, Titan/Centurion/Sentinel Armor (over vital spaces); 50cm Low Spectrum Redirection Meta-Material, 2m Ablative Plating, 2m Hybridized Alloy, 50cm Impact Absorption Layer, 75 cm Heat Redirection Meta-Material, 1m Radiation Shielding, Hyperion/Legate/Monolith Armor (over vital spaces); 5m Low Spectrum Redirection Meta-Material (re-enforced), 4m Ablative Plating, 5m Hybridized Alloy, 1m Impact Absorption Layer, 2m Heat Redirection Meta-Material, 2m Radiation Shielding, Hyperion/Legate/Monolith Armor (over vital spaces); Unknown

**Armament**:

12-20x GUARDIAN Turret, 8-16x Turret Mounted Cannon; 20-40x GUARDIAN Turret, 16-20x Turret Mounted Cannon; 30-80x GUARDIAN Turret, 16-36x Turret Mounted Cannon; 48-104 GUARDIAN Turret, 36-64x Turret Mounted Cannon; 20+ Linear Particle Acceleration Cannons (actual number unknown), 2+ Synchrotron Particle Acceleration Cannons (actual number unknown), 8+ Broadside Cruiser-grade Magnetic Acceleration Cannon (actual number unknown), LATTICE Laser Defense System, Remainder Unknown (postulated to have broad spectrum cloaking ability)

**Spacecraft** **Carried**:

10-25 Bombers or 25-50 Interceptors; 25-45 Bombers or 50-95 Interceptors; 60-200 Bombers or 120-400 Interceptors; 2 Cruisers or 8 Medium Frigates or 1205 Bombers or 3015 Interceptors; 4 Cruisers, 8 Frigates, 1 Scout Carrier, Remainder Unknown (Est. 4000 Interceptors)

**Operational** **Numbers**: {Affiliation: Scout/Medium/Super/Fleet/Capital}

Terran Confederacy: 12/9/2/1/0; Centauri Union: 15/12/3/1/0; Independent League: 40/8/1/1/0; Umoja Corporation: 5/1/0/0/1; Neutral Systems: 15/5/0/0/0

**Description**: Vessels classified as carriers function as support vessels and mobile command centers. Each carrier has a complement of drone interceptors or bombers as its main armament. These drones are controlled by pilots via Quantum Entanglement Communicators (QECs) from their launching carrier. Along with a human pilot each drone has an onboard Virtual Intelligence (VI) or other equivalent Class III Computer Intelligence that can assume control in the event that its pilot becomes incapacitated.

The workhorse of most space going fleets is the scout carrier. Originally they were meant to supplement existing carrier groups and provide smaller scout forces with much needed drone support. However, over time production shifted from super and medium carriers to building the far less expensive scout carriers. There were numerous other benefits: they could be built rapidly, they were less expensive, and could be mostly automated and crew by as few as 500 people in some cases. Most of all, the thing that cemented their place in space going navies were the actions of the _CWS Leyte Gulf_.

The _Leyte Gulf _was part of the third generation of scout carriers fielded by the Centauri Union and had a long, celebrated career that spanned over 75 years. However, the arguable pinnacle of that career was the First Battle of the Kuiper Belt. During the battle the _Leyte Gulf_'s complement of 10 bombers and 30 interceptors successfully broke the Confederate flank after its escorts had all been disabled or destroyed. After the battle it was estimated that 2 cruisers, 4 frigates, 5 corvettes, and 4 point defense ships were destroyed by the _Leyte Gulf_'s fighters and bombers. What would have been a rout for the Centauri was forced to a draw with both sides coming away bloodied.

Among the more mythical vessels ever created is the Umoja owned _UNV Lumen Solis_, the single largest combat capable ship ever made. While very little about the vessel has been disclosed by Umoja it is estimated to be over 10 km long and is known to house over 100,000 people including the upper echelons of Umoja's management. It is widely speculated how the Umojans built the _Lumen Solis _as all attempts to achieve the same size and top speed, be they computer models or in real life, have failed miserably. They typically crumbled under their own weight or suffered catastrophic grav-plate failure due to the extreme stress. Because of its critical nature most of its offensive and defensive capabilities are kept under wraps. Although it is known that it packs a serious punch no one is quite sure how well equipped it is beyond speculation.

Dreadnaughts

**Types**:

Line, Juggernaut, Artillery

**Role**:

Heavy Fire Support/ Heavy Combat Vessel

**Length**:

500m-900m; 500m-1km; 500m-1km

**Displacement**:

65,000-75,000 tons; 85,000-150,000 tons; 50,000-75,000 tons

**Power plant**:

1x Fusion Turbine, 12x Solar Array, 10x Super Capacitor, Micro-Capacitors (Localized Back-up), 5x Diesel Motors (Back-up); 1-2x Fusion Turbine, 14-16x Solar Array, 18x Super Capacitor, Micro-Capacitors (Localized Back-up); 2x Anti-Matter Reactor, 4x Fusion Turbine, 60-80x Solar Array, 30x Super Capacitor, Micro-Capacitors (Localized Back-up)

**Propulsion**:

1x Slip-Drive, 2-4x Fusion Torch, 2-4x Large Ion Engine, 8-16x Maneuvering Cluster; 1x Slip-Drive, 2-4x Fusion Torch, 2-4x Large Ion Engine, 16-24x Maneuvering Cluster; 1x Slip-Drive, 2x Anti-Matter Engine, 4x Fusion Torch, 8x Maneuvering Cluster

**Speed**:

In real space: 65,000 m/s; 140,000 m/s; 100,000 m/s

In warp space: 2,400,000 km/s or 8x light speed; 2,400,000 km/s; 2,400,000 km/s

**Range**:

25 light-years at warp or 25 years real space travel; 30-40 light-years at warp or 30-45 years real space travel; 30-40 light-years at warp or 30-40 years real space travel

**Complement**:

1,000-2,000 crew; 2,000-3,000 crew; 800-2,000 crew

**Armor**:

50cm Low Spectrum Redirection Meta-Material, 2m Ablative Plating, 2m Hybridized Alloy, 50cm Impact Absorption Layer, 75cm Heat Redirection Meta-Material, 1m Radiation Shielding, Hyperion/Legate/Monolith Armor (over vital spaces); 2m Low Spectrum Redirection Meta-Material, 4m 'Dragon Skin' Ablative Plating, 5m Hybridized Interweaved Alloy, 50cm Degenerate Particle Armor, 1m Impact Absorption Layer, 1m Heat Redirection Meta-Material, 2m Radiation Shielding, Hyperion/Legate/Monolith Armor (over vital spaces); 2m Low Spectrum Redirection Meta-Material, 50cm Ablative Plating, 1m Hybridized Alloy, 50cm Impact Absorption Layer, 1m Heat Redirection Meta-Material, 1m Radiation Shielding, Hyperion/Legate/Monolith Armor (over vital spaces)

**Armament**:

1-3x Spinal Mount Magnetic Acceleration Cannon, 20-30x Broadside Cannon, 40+ GUARDIAN Turrets;

40-80x Broadside Cannon, 20-40x Turret Mounted Cannon, 80+ GUARDIAN Turrets;

1-2x Spinal Mount Particle Acceleration Cannon, 1-2x Spinal Mount Magnetic Acceleration Cannon, 20-50x Missile Pod, 10x Turret Mounted Cannon, 20-40x GUARDIAN Turret

**Operational Numbers**:

Terran Confederacy: 6/ 2/ 6; Centauri Union: 8/ 1/ 10; Independent League: 4/ 0/ 12 Umoja Corporation: 2/ 0/ 4; Neutral Systems: 3/ 1/ 3

**Description**:

Although they fill a few different roles in combat, under the Treaty of Farixen and the Treaty of Wolf 359 they are classified as Dreadnaughts and Direct Combat Capital Ships respectively. Despite their obvious power they take a back seat in most human navies compared to cruiser and carrier forces. While their firepower is invaluable in some engagements the expense to build and maintain these monolithic weapons usually keeps them off the front lines. The shift in thinking that led to this is apparent in the history of human space and surface warfare. In the early days of both space and surface navies dreadnaughts, specifically Juggernaut type, and battleships were the kings of warfare. Their massive guns and study exteriors allowed them to do considerable damage to enemy vessels while coming away with a few dents. However, treaties limiting their use and the advent of effective carriers killed the class in a ship-vs.-ship role.

During the mid to late years of the Long War the Juggernaut type was mothballed or was used as a temporary Orbital Defense/Bombardment Platform. Since the end of the Long War all factions have moved most of their remaining Juggernauts into "vaults" that contain operable but outdated ships. During their lifecycle they were replaced by Line type dreadnaughts and heavy cruisers.

Line dreadnaughts are what most people think of when you mention the word dreadnaught. Sometimes armed with Magnetic Acceleration Cannons that are three quarters of a kilometer long, decent GUARDIAN coverage, a plethora of turret mounted cannons, and even a few of the more exotic weapons (See Umoja Publicized Experiments File 23 and Cerberus Project File VE-113) they packed a considerable punch at any range. However, even their improved range and agility only kept the class viable for another fifty years. They were eventually reduced to being escorts for carriers in large fleets and rarely see action.

The newest breed of dreadnaught is the "Artillery" ship. The first of these long thin vessels were originally constructed by the Independent League using frames and the basic structure of cancelled Juggernaut type vessels. The first one was largely considered to be a desperate attempt to salvage what little they could from the old frames. While the vessel was unwieldy and had severe power consumption problems its results were very worthwhile. Originally it used a synchrotron type accelerator to propel a metal slug that weighed roughly 1kg to a velocity of .02c or two percent the speed of light. However crude and unreliable it was it was the highest velocity achievable by any ship baring the Umojans. Because of the significant range advantage it proved all aggressors in the conflict began their own projects. The eventual culmination of their work would be the modern Artillery ship. A modern Artillery ship can launch a stream of protons and neutrons at a target at a muzzle velocity of .5c (fifty percent the speed of light) and weighing a total of 2kg. On contact with enemy armor the high velocity and ionization state of the protons causes both nuclear and chemical reactions across the surface. The radiation generated typically burns through most of the outer armor while brute force cracks the remaining layers. A direct hit on a ship's fusion engine by one of these beams will typically cause the vessel to break in half. Rounds have also been known to split the keels of other dreadnaughts going from bow to stern and continuing on.

Cruisers

**Types**:

Heavy, Medium, Light

**Role**:

Front Line Combat Vessel

**Length**:

450-650m; 300-500m; 300-450m

**Displacement**:

60,000-68,000 tons; 40,000-50,000 tons; 25,000- 40,000 tons

**Power plant**:

2x Fusion Turbine, 10x Solar Array, 15x Super Capacitor, Micro-Capacitors (local back-up), 1x Diesel Engine; 1x Fusion Turbine, 8x Solar Array, 10x Super Capacitor, Micro-Capacitors; 0-1x Anti-Matter Reactor, 1-2x Fusion Turbine, 8-10x Solar Array, 10-14x Super Capacitors, Micro-Capacitors, 1-2x Diesel Engine

**Propulsion**:

1x Slip Drive, 2-4x Fusion Torch, 2-4x Ion Engine, 8-24x Maneuvering Cluster; 1x Slip Drive, 2x Fusion Torch, 2-4x Ion Engine, 8-16x Maneuvering Cluster; 1x Slip Drive, 0-1x Anti-Matter Engine, 4-6x Fusion Torch, 0-4x Ion Engine, 24-32x Maneuvering Cluster

**Speed**:

In real space: 70,000 m/s; 150,000 m/s; 170,000 m/s

In warp space: 2,400,000 km/s or 8x light speed; 2,400,000 km/s; 2,500,000 km/s

**Range**:

30 light years at warp or 30 years real space travel; 30-40 light years at warp of 35-45 years real space travel; 40-45 light years at warp or 40-45 years real space travel

**Complement**:

400-1,200 crew; 350-750 crew; 200-500 crew

**Armor**:

2m Low Spectrum Redirection Meta-Material, 2m 'Dragon Skin' Ablative Plating, 3m Hybridized Interweaved Alloy, 50cm Degenerate Particle Armor, 1m Impact Absorption Layer, 50cm Heat Redirection Meta-Material, 1m Radiation Shielding, Hyperion/Legate/Monolith Armor (over vital spaces); 1m Low Spectrum Redirection Meta-Material, 2m Ablative Plating, 2m Hybridized Alloy, 50cm Impact Absorption Layer, 75cm Heat Redirection Meta-Material, 1m Radiation Shielding, Titan/Centurion/Sentinel Armor (over vital spaces); 2m Low Spectrum Redirection Meta-Material, 1m 'Dragon Skin' Ablative Plating, 1m Hybridized Alloy, 1 m Impact Absorption Layer, 1m Heat Redirection Meta-Material, 50 cm Radiation Shielding, Titan/Centurion/Sentinel Armor (over critical systems)

**Armament**:

1x Spinal Mount Magnetic Acceleration Cannon, 16-24x Turret Mounted Cannon, 40+ GUARDIAN Turrets; 1x Spinal Mount Magnetic Acceleration Cannon, 16-20x Turret Mounted Cannon, 32-40x GUARDIAN Turret; 0-1x Spinal Mount Magnetic Acceleration Cannon, 12-16x Turret Mounted Cannon, 24-40x GUARDIAN Turret

**Operational Numbers**:

Terran Confederacy: 12/ 45/ 39; Centauri Union: 29/ 61/ 47; Independent League: 24/ 68/ 59; Umoja Corporation: 8/ 14/ 50; Neutral Systems: 5/ 27/ 57

**Description**:

The cruiser class forms the backbone of most fleets. Sporting almost dreadnaught level weapons and armor, cruisers are a less expensive alternative to the modern dreadnaught. While not particularly dangerous at long range, at medium to close range they are a force to be reckoned with. Heavy cruisers are the smallest of the ships generally considered to be Capital ships. The descendants of the first generation of dreadnaughts the heavy cruiser bares many similarities to its relatives. Its spinal mounted weapon is proportionately smaller than those of the dreadnaughts but still has some teeth. What separates the heavy cruiser from other cruisers is that it sacrifices speed for firepower and heavy armor on par with a Juggernaut. In the other direction is the light cruiser.

Light cruisers typically perform recon missions, patrols, and are a main component of light and medium fleets. Trading armor and weapons space for sensor banks, fuel reserves, and engines the little cruiser can out run most any other vessel. Using their superior agility at range to avoid any damage and brutal close range power, light cruisers with frigate and destroyer "wolf packs" can make short work of unsuspecting foes. However, these wolf packs are mostly only effective in ambushes and hit-and-run attacks being quickly destroyed in the few cases they could not escape before enemy reinforcements appeared.

In between these two types is the medium cruiser. With modest capabilities in most any engagement the medium cruiser has stood the test of time. One of the most well known medium cruisers is the Independent League's _Tenki _(_天気_) class. With thirty ships in its class it was one most widely used ship designs in the League. They tend to emphasize crew safety and balance speed, firepower, and defense capability without compromising their effectiveness. One member of the _Tenki _class, the _Kou _(_降雨_), returned to Sirius Station missing three quarters of its armor and with four hits that went clear through the ship. Two thirds of the crew survived with minimal injuries and all of the fatalities were among those in the path of enemy fire or those unlucky enough to suffer a suit rupture. Their proven reliability and survivability made them a staple of the League navy and the template for generations of cruisers to come.

For classifications on the myriad types of frigates, destroyers, and corvettes see Human Light Vessels.

(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)

**A/N:**

Do you like numbers? I like numbers! NUMBERS YAY! Let's have a number party! It's like a slumber party but with numbers!

In all seriousness, this was a royal pain to write. My journey through Wikipedia dominates my computer's internet history. For some fun reading to try and rap your head around go look at the article on Meta-Materials and there implications. For stuff that is coming out in a few years go check out super capacitors, they look friggin' sweet. To nerd out over military stuff look up Land War Net, their putting it into action right now. Barring stuff I obviously made up (i.e. Titan/Centurion/Sentinel Armor) you can find most of the pages I used as references with the help of Google if you are so inclined. The story chapter is in the works but I wanted to at least put something out before the end of the month.

Feel free to give me an earful for wasting time on filler when I should be focusing on story. I probably deserve it. Please note the _Lumen Solis_ will be important later on and when it becomes important heads will roll. Umoja's armed forces are impressive for a private company, yes; however they earned their fire power by owning three star systems. You got to defend your turf somehow.

Until next time, later!


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